Eastern Promises (2007)

A Russian teenager living in London who dies during childbirth leaves clues to a midwife in her journal that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.

Director:

David Cronenberg

Writer:

Steven Knight (screenplay) (as Steve Knight)

Stars:

Naomi Watts, Viggo Mortensen, Armin Mueller-Stahl

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 28 wins & 70 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Josef Altin	...	Ekrem
Mina E. Mina	...	Azim
Aleksandar Mikic	...	Soyka (as Aleksander Mikic)
Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse	...	Tatiana (as Sarah Jeanne Labrosse)
Lalita Ahmed	...	Customer
Badi Uzzaman	...	Chemist
Naomi Watts	...	Anna
Doña Croll	...	Nurse (as Dona Croll)
Raza Jaffrey	...	Doctor Aziz
Sinéad Cusack	...	Helen (as Sinead Cusack)
Jerzy Skolimowski	...	Stepan
Tatiana Maslany	...	Tatiana (voice)
Viggo Mortensen	...	Nikolai
Vincent Cassel	...	Kirill
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Semyon

Storyline

In London, the Russian pregnant teenager Tatiana arrives bleeding in a hospital, and the doctors save her baby only. The Russian descendant midwife Anna Khitrova finds Tatiana's diary written in Russian language in her belongings and decided to find her family to deliver the baby, she brings the diary home and ask her uncle Stepan to translate the document. Stepan refuses, but Anna finds a card of a restaurant owned by the Russian Semyon inside the diary and she visits the old man trying to find a lead to contact Tatiana's family. When she mentions the existence of the diary, Semyon immediately offers to translate the document. However, Stepan translates part of the diary and Anna discovers that Semyon and his sick son Kirill had raped Tatiana when she was fourteen years old and forced her to work as prostitute in a brothel of their own. Further, Semyon is the dangerous boss of the Russian mafia "Vory v Zakone", jeopardizing the safety of Anna and her family. Meanwhile, Semyon's ...

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Plot Keywords:

russian | sex scene | male pubic hair | pubic hair | turkish bath | 

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Taglines:

Every sin leaves a mark.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong brutal and bloody violence, some graphic sexuality, language and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK Canada USA

Language:

English Russian Turkish Ukrainian Urdu

Release Date:

21 September 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Les promesses de l'ombre

Filming Locations:

Broadway Market, Hackney, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$547,092, 16 September 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$17,114,882, 26 October 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kudos Film and Television, BBC Films, Serendipity Point Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

About five cast and crew personnel worked on both Eastern Promises (2007) and the filmed adaptation of John le Carré's novel, Our Kind of Traitor (2016), the two pictures being made and released around nine years apart, and both featuring story-lines involving the Russian Mafia. They were actor James Payton who was a stand-in for both Ewan McGregor and Viggo Mortensen in Our Kind of Traitor (2016) and Eastern Promises (2007) respectively; fight and stunt co-ordinator'Julian Spencer (I)'; art director / chief draughtsman Dean Clegg; ADR mixer / recordist Mark Appleby; and production coordinator Jo Wallett.

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Goofs

While at the party, Nikolai has the young girl on his lap. They are drinking what appears to be a fifth of vodka. The girl seems to take a drink, but the vodka never reaches the neck of the bottle. She never makes a motion to swallow and immediately she kisses Nikolai. He motions for her to feed him some of the vodka. Again the vodka never reaches the neck of the bottle.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Azim: He says "Christmas." So I say to him,
[in Turkish]
Azim: "Should we go shopping?"
[English]
Azim: The kid's 16. He says, "But uncle, it's Christmas."

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Connections

Referenced in Deadpool (2016)

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Soundtracks

Step Da Step Krugom
Traditional
Performed by Vincent Cassel

User Reviews

Another masterpiece

Eastern Promises is a further proof David Cronenberg is one of the last classic film-makers left. At the same time, he is a modernist. The combination, in the dark London he created, is a moral tale which makes you think of Dostoievsky. It's a story of crime and redemption with an unusual (hidden) tenderness. At the same time, it is a very serious trip into the rites of a secret society as we can see more and more in our big cities. A criminal secret society.

Cronenberg (and his friend Peter Suschistky) have created another universe that seems another version of ours. As usual it is a mental one, but so close to what we call "reality" that it makes you uncomfortable and eventually horrified. The cast is fantastic and the script is brilliant.